Without A Light
by ThereGoesYourStar
Summary: A Bray fanfic. He comes home to the city to find it deserted.
1. Prolog

**_Without a light_**

_Hours...days...weeks...months. Seemed like forever had passed and eternity had been and gone. Lying flat on his back on a solid muddy ground, with his arms open wide, there was a saying which he kept repeating on in his mind "Keep the dream alive", a saying that he had been repeating since the begining and now he questioned "What was it really all about?". It slowly began to lose its meaning. _

Looking straight up into the stary night above him, he counted the stars, wondering if they were still out there somewhere, under the same sky.But he had given up searching long ago and now he was on his own again, lying there, defeated. His once open heart was now empty and he closed his eyes, wishing that somehow he wouldnt feel like this, wishing the darkness would take over him forever.

He thought about all the things that he had done, and all the things he had fought for. All the pain he had gone through, and all the happiness he had achieved. None of it seemed real now. What did it cause? Did it ever exsist?

Opening his eyes once more, a gust of wind blew over him, its coldness chilled him to the bone, but still he didnt move. He didnt think there was a point. And at that very moment he questioned the importance of life for the first time.

**_How can you find your way?_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

His eyes sparkled with moisture as the wind blasted angrily across his face; a single tear fell and landed on his lips. He tasted the salt & closed his eyes. The air was frightfully cold and as he walked he breathed out a translucent sheet of white smoke & tucked his raw hands inside his coat pocket. He continued to walk almost breaking into a run, he couldn't see much in front of him, and his hair continuously slapped into his face, wrapping around his eyes. The force of the wind was annoying and he reached out his hand to swipe the loose strands off his face, he huffed to himself as the wind blew it straight back again.

Lightly shivering he hunched his shoulders in towards his body and re-attached his hands to the lining of his pockets. He sniffed, trying to stop his nose from running and blinked fast several times to dry his eyes.

He hated this kind of weather, he would rather it be raining then heavy wind. It made it hard for him to see made his eyes water and his face sting.

The city was deserted. There was nobody around and it was eerily quiet. Not how he remembered it at all and there was a grey mist of fog clouded over the tops of all the buildings. A strange wave of fear flooded through him and told him not to move forward. He stood still and composed himself, taking a look at his surroundings.

His home. This used to be his home. There home.

His worse fears were becoming true.

On his travels he had heard stories from strangers about a new wave of the virus out breaking in this direction, in this city. He had not believed them. How could it even be possible? But the closer he came, the less strangers he saw, and the more scared they seemed, slowly putting strange thoughts in his mind.

They say the Techno's released it. But he did not believe that they would do such a thing. He despised them for what they did to him, his body, his mind & his soul but he did not believe they would do something so murderous. They wanted to bring back order & technology; he never thought it was there intention to kill people. In his times with them, he saw them as a great tribe. He understood what they dreamed of doing, as it was similar to his own but he did not agree with the way they were doing it, snatching subjects to test on away from their homes & loved ones, keeping them against their will, removing their conscious minds and replacing them with fantasies.

He never intended to forgive them for what they had made him endure, but he had to come to see for himself.

And he had to find out what had happened to the Mallrats.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

He had been wondering for 20 minutes , and he had not heard or seen a single living thing and he felt a strange sense of loneliness, as he looked around , memories of it bustling with people came back to him. He shook it off with a shiver. The wind had calmed down as the buildings sheltered him and he carried on walking, desperately trying to find someone or something.

"Anybody out there!" he cried

Nothing answered. He was beginning to think the rumours were true. He stopped in his tracks and sighed. He felt tears brewing inside his eyes and he blinked to make them disappear. He furiously kicked a stone ahead of him and beat the air with his fists.

"No no no!" he cried

After everything, the only hope he had was to come home, home to his family. He had given up plenty of times, but there was always a small light deep in his mind that eventually willed him to go on.

He had been beaten, his body broken and his mind had been wiped & replaced with dreams and nightmares, his hopes had been dangled right in front him and then snatched away.

Maybe it was time to give up.

He had been so far away. Locked in a dark room alone for days. He remembered his bloody hands, his hoarse voice from shouting. He demanded answers; he demanded to be set free. He was furious, like a ravenous tigress after a kill. And he wanted to kill. He had never wanted to kill someone so much until that point. How dare they steal him away during the most precious moment of his life. He banged his head continuously against the door and screamed and he ran his fingers scratching, drawing blood from his nails. He become immune to the pain, and he threw himself at the door, shouting & screaming, using his entire body, his entire being. He had to get out.

He remembered the moment he broke. The moment he realised they were not going to free him, those precious moments had been lost.

He crumpled to the floor, and sobbed into his hands. He continued to bang his head slowly against the wall behind him, rocking.. His movements soothed him like a lullaby, crying unstoppably into his bleeding hands.

Days had passed, the hunger pains had passed, and he had not seen a single person, not one of the monsters that stole him. His throat was no longer dry as he swallowed his own tears & he did not care that he was going to die. He wondered what they wanted with him and who were they? They were not adults as he first suspected.

"Why don't you cowards just come and do it already!" he shouted

Standing up he looked around in darkness.

Was this the place where he was going to die? It seemed petty considering the battles he had fought.

"_Come on! Do it! Kill me!"_

Most of his time away had been forgotten, almost as if they had erased his memory. He remembered blurs, fast paced stories that were too horrible to be real, some nightmares he didn't want to imagine. But then he remembered the seaside with a blonde little boy & a red bucket and spade. That memory confused him, maybe it was a dream? But it felt so real.

He closed his eyes and the picture came easy, and with the next gust of wind he got a taste of the salty sea air. The blonde child unsteadily ran up along the beach clutching a red spade and flung himself in to his arms. He didn't know who this child was but he just felt so right in his arms. He wanted to stay on the beach forever. He was happy, so happy like he used to be.

His eyes opened back to reality. Back to the deserted city that was once his home. A home he helped to create. The dream must have meant something, his heart fluttered and he smiled softy to himself. He must go on. He must find them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

He had been aware that he was being followed since the moment he entered the city, a skill he had learnt from an old friend. It gave him extra hope that the city wasn't deserted after all, but he also wondered who it was, and what they wanted. A few times he had thought about turning around and catching them out, but he was scared and he didn't want to admit it.

He knew the city well, and so did his follower. He had sneaked around buildings tightly and in and out of alley's and he was still being followed, but still they never made a move. He was trying to think of a way to lose them and remembered the old building up ahead. He had been in there before, a huge office building. It had lots of floors, with doorways and large windows with upturned desks and 2 sets of stairs. It would be a great place to hide, they could easily get lost.

He entered the building, jumping over the battered desk that used to be the reception. He turned, crouching down peering quickly before shooting off down the corridor towards the set of stairs.

He couldnt hear anything behind him, and wondered if they had given up, but he kept on going. He ran up 2 flights of stairs and then disappeared into one of the large open office rooms. All the desks had been ram-sacked, tipped over, smashed, even some had the legs taken off, and properly used for weapons he thought. Paper sewn the floor like a white carpet, layered with paper clips and envelopes. He ran behind his chosen desk, and crouched, taking a few deep breathes. He listened out…but still couldn't hear anything, so he relaxed his legs, stretching them out in front of him, sighing slightly in relief.

A smell from his bag wafted to his nose, and it reminded him that he had to eat soon, but he wanted to save the last piece of food he had till a few minutes of nothing, he began to feel at ease, so he slipped his rucksack of his shoulder, and pulled out a bottle of water. It was warm, and funny tasting but did the trick anyway. As he relaxed he started to wonder what happened in the city. _Why did the Techno's release a killer virus? What was their purpose? The Mallrats must have been involved, they always are, he thought. Maybe they stopped it? Maybe they saved everyone? God he hoped so…no they had too. The Mallrats always put up a fight, always stood up for what's right. There's no way everyone in this city is dead, he's seen someone, someone was following him, maybe he should ask…_

Before the thought came to his mind he launched himself up and along the corridor, and he raced to the top of the stairs.

"Hello!" he cried, "Who are you! I know somebody is there!"

He flew down the stairs and back to the front of the building, shouting and screaming on his way, desperate to get someone to hear him.

"Hello! Where are you!" he shouted at the top of his lungs

His breath became short so he stopped, looking out from the foyer of the building. He could see no one. He scanned his eyes around, paying attention to the small detail, looking in every nook and cranny he could see. There was no one.

Again his hopes had dashed.

He tightened up the strap on his rucksack over his shoulder and set off again, in the direction of the Phoenix Mall.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

He saw the flash of hair in the corner of his eye, but still carried on walking. Any sudden movement and his follower would have sussed that he had seen them.

He should have been terrified, but he was excited. He was defiantly sure someone was following him, he wasn't imagining things which meant there was life in the city, someone to answer his questions.

Options whizzed around in his mind. He wanted to turn round, to speak to them but he didn't want to scare them. And if he carried on like this, they might disappear and he would never get a chance. He chose the former; it was a chance worth taking. He inhaled deeply and spun round,

"Show yourself!" he cried "I come in peace"

He grimaced, he sounded so cliché. He looked around him and didn't see anything. Maybe he was just imagining it after all.

But just as he was about to turn around and give up, he heard a voice behind him,

"Who are you stranger? What are you doing here?"

He spun round, and faced a strange looking girl, with brown hair, randomly plaited and backcombed. Her skin was tanned and she had striking green eyes. He stared for a few moments, taking in the new human being. She stood in front of him in silence until he composed himself enough to talk.

"My name is Bray, I used to live in this city"

"So? What are you doing here, there's nothing left here" she said, her voice aggressive

"I'm here to find family, my tribe. Do you have a tribe?"

"No tribe" she answered bluntly, before looking towards the ground "Your tribe is not here"

"How do you know that?" he said stepping forward

"Nobody is here, there are no tribes here, you must leave"

Bray stepped closer again and anguish took over his body , he lunged towards the girl, ready to grab her, but she was quick and blocked him with some sort of steel pipe, she pushed him hard.

"There's nothing here for you!" she said raising her voice slightly.

He was on the floor & he felt tears starting to well up behind his eyes. He had been pushed over by a girl, but he tried to hold them back.

"I need to find my family! You don't understand I need to find her! I need to find my son" he pounded the ground next to him

The girl saw the pain in his face & the tears in his eyes, so she softened. She was looking at a broken weak man on the floor. His long hair wispy, and his face was pale & gaunt. His clothes were tatty, and ripped in places, but it was his eyes that spoke to her. This man was suffering, and had been for a long time. She was now in a position she had not been in before but it was her job to lead stragglers and nomads out of the city. But this man was no nomad, he was not simply going through the city, nor had he wondered upon it by accident and was curious, he had history here. She felt that even though his body & mind had been broken, his spirit wouldn't let him leave this place. He was after answers and she was afraid that he wouldn't rest until he had them, which could be dangerous for everyone.

Most nomads she had come across, she had spun them a line about the "virus" and then had fled without question, this man she knew would not go so easily.

She held out her hand, and smiled softly at the man on the ground "I'll take you"

"Take me where?" he asked

"The Phoenix Mall" she replied


End file.
